Finger-guard for grain-cutting machinery.



Patented Nov. 27, |900.

V.. R E N H c A M GJ Nm |.9 .T1 6r 2 EMM DAHM n n D FINGER GUARD FUR GR (Applicati llnitnn Stains Partnr Ormea.,

SAMUEL K. DENNIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE PLANO MANUFACTURING COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

FlNGER-GUARD FOR GRAIN-CUTTING MACHINERY.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 662,63*?, dated November 27, 1900.

Application led March 26, 1900. Serial No. 10,172. (No model.)

To all whom, t ntcty concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL K. DENNIS, a resident of Chicago, in the countyof Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Finger-Guards for GraiwCutting Machines, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to a new and useful improvement in a construction of ledgerplates for guard-fingers used in mowing and reaping machinery. As these ledge`r-plates have hitherto been constructed they have been permanently secured in place upon the guard-finger by riveting them in position and in case ofl breakage or if it is desired to sharpen them it is practically impossible for a farmer to remove and replace them without the assistance of a skilled mechanic.

In my improved construction instead of riveting the ledger-plate directly to the fingen guard I place the forward end in a correspondingly-shaped notch adapted to hold it rigidly, while the rear end is formed with a tail that projects through a channel cut in the rear of the guard-finger to a point beneath where the iinger-bar overlaps the linger-guard, so that when the finger-guard is bolted in place to the finger-bar the ledger-plate is held rigidly in place. With this construction if a plate becomes broken or it is desired to take a plate out to sharpen it all that is necessary is to unbolt the guard-finger from the fingerbar, when the ledger-plate can be lifted out of its position with theingers.

To more fully illustrate my invention, I annex hereto a sheet of drawings, in which the same letters of reference are used to designate identical parts in all the views, of which- Figure l is a plan view of two linger-guards constructedin accordance with my invention, the ledger-plate being omitted in one and both being broken away to show the interior construction. Fig. 2 is a sectional view of the same, but on a larger scale and on the line 2 2 of Fig. l; and Fig. 3 is a plan view of the ledger-plate detached.

a is the finger-bar, which is of any desired construction and, as usual, is provided with the bolt-holes b, through which the bolt c passes, which by means of the nut d secures the rear end of the guard-nger ein position.

This guard-finger has at its forward end a recess formed therein of the proper shape to engage the curved and shouldered endf of the ledger-platter, the recess and the end of the ledger-plaie heilig of the customary construction and adapted to cooperate with each other to prevent any vertical or lateral movement of that end of the ledger-plate when the other end is suitably held in position.

The novel features of construction employed to embody my invention are found in providing the ledgenplate with a tail h, which is substantially parallel to the body portion and is connected therewith by the vertical portion j. As heretofore constructed these ledger-plates have terminated with the body portion, and in order to accommodate the tail h and the vertical portionj I out out a channel r in the shoulder, which joins the main portion of the guard-linger with the tail portion thereof. I also cut a channel Zin the guard-finger extending rearwardly from the channel t toward the aperture m for the bolt c. This channel Z, which accommodates the tail of the ledger-plate, is made somewhat deeper than the thickness of the tail 7i, which,

is so shaped that when merely put in place the tail projects slightly above the surface n of the guard-iinger, which contacts with the under side of the finger-bar a. It will be apparent that when the parts are assembled and the nut d is tightened the parts will be drawn together and the tail h of the ledger-plate will be put under some little tension before the surface n of the guard-finger is brought in contact throughout with the under surface of the linger-bar a, thus causing the ledger-plate to act as aspring or tension plate. This structure enables me to get a speedy and absolutely-accurate adjustment of the parts and without any careful machine-work, as the channel l can be of any desired depth, provided it is greater than the thickness. of the plate, and by the tension of the ledger-plate the parts adjust themselves automatically.

It will be apparent that when it is desired to remove the ledger-plate all that will be necessary is to unscrew the nut d and take the guard-finger oli", after which the ledger-plate can be lifted out of place.

While I have shown my invention as em- IOO bodied in the form which I at present con sider best adapted for carrying out its purposes, it will be understood that it is capable of sorne slight modifications and that I do not desire to be limited in the interpretation of the following claim except as may be necessitated by the state of the art.

What I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is-

In a device of the class described, the combination with the guard-finger e having the recess formed therein at its forward end, adapted to receive and hold from lateral displacement the end of the ledger-plate and the recess Z; the nger-bar to which the finger is SAMUEL K. DENNIS.

Witnesses:

E. J. TAYLOR, J. F. ADAMS. 

